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- The history of Linux is full of failed projects.
- There have been many distributions that have come and gone.
- These, by far, are my favorites (some of which I still miss).
I’ve been using Linux for so long that I’ve forgotten how many of the distributions I’ve tried no longer have us. At the same time, there are some distributions that are seared into my memory and refuse to fade away.
Some of those distributions hang out in my gray case out of nostalgia, while at least one holds a sore spot among the Linux faithful.
But what are my favorite Linux distributions that no longer exist?
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1. Mandrake
Mandrake was special for several reasons. First of all, Mandrake was one of the first distributions with the goal of making Linux accessible to new users. It came out in the late 90s/early 2000s, and it really shook up the Linux community (in a good way). Mandrake was one of the first distributions to have a graphical installer and configuration tools, as well as one of the early distributions that led the charge for Live CDs.
Another reason Mandrake holds a special place in my heart is that the development team I first met didn’t take themselves so seriously. The group responsible for Mandrake knew how to have fun. I remember hanging out with him at one of my first Linux conferences and dancing late into the night. Those people not only loved Linux and open-source, but they also loved life. Since then, whenever I think of Mandrake, I smile.
2. Caldera OpenLinux
Caldera OpenLinux 1.0 was the first distribution I tried. It was 1997, and I had purchased the installation CD from CompUSA for about $50. Looking back, I can’t believe I was willing to pay that much money for Linux. I did, and I don’t regret it.
Well, not at all.
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As much as I think about Caldera OpenLinux, I’ve only been with it for a short time. The reason was that the distribution would not work with my modem. Because of this, I immediately purchased another distribution (more on that in a bit), only to find that it had the same problem. Turns out, the problem was that my PC had a WinModem. I purchased an external US Robotics 33.6k modem and everything was great. I could always stay connected with Caldera OpenLinux.
At the time, I didn’t know that Caldera OpenLinux was actually focused on business users. Even if that modem worked, I probably would have found the distribution to be a bit overkill for someone trying to learn the ropes of Linux.
3. Red Hat
The second distribution I purchased was Red Hat 5.2. Once I fixed the modem problem, I found that Red Hat worked like an absolute champ, and I stuck with it for years.
Honestly, if Red Hat hadn’t been working with that external modem, I probably wouldn’t have been able to figure it out and learn to use Linux. I can’t imagine how different my life would be without this release. The first thing I did with Red Hat was install a different window manager. I believe this was another important step in my relationship with Linux. Once I discovered Afterstep, it was game over for Windows.
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Remember, this was long before the Fedora and Red Hat split.
4. Corel Linux
If there’s only one reason why Corel Linux is on this list, it’s that it was the first distribution that I remember that shipped with a full-fledged office suite. That office suite was WordPerfect. If you’ve used WordPerfect, you completely understand why it’s on the distribution list. Anyone who has had the pleasure of using WordPerfect remembers it fondly.
However, for me, it was a real turning point with Linux because it proved that open-source operating systems can and should be taken seriously. Corel Linux came with serious GUI tools that promised users they wouldn’t always have to rely on the command line.
5. CentOS
This is one of the ones on the list that stings. CentOS was my favorite server OS for a long time. It was stable, serious, and could do anything Red Hat Linux did… without the associated cost.
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CentOS is the free bit in Red Hat’s bottom line, which means it needs to change. To that end, the company moved CentOS to CentOS Stream, and anyone who had become dependent on the OS had to make the sudden change. A large number of administrators and developers had to find a new platform to use, and CentOS Stream was considered the “enemy”.
Fortunately, distributions like AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux pick up where CentOS left off.
But, wow, the loss of CentOS hurts.
